Does anyone out there play flute with false teeth or implants?
I really need to know because I have very bad teeth, and I am thoroughly afraid that I won't be able to play the flute anymore within a couple of years, when I have to have replaced my teeth with false ones.
Has anyone experience with this? Is it still possible to play though?
Thanks.

YIKES take care of your teeth please and yes you can play the flute with false teeth and implants

good luck 2u

Are very sure Mr.Doug? When I play I can feel a lot of pressure against my lower front tooth. I am using the new 3-point balancing of the flute.

I have many very very ugly front teeth, my parents and grandma tells me to correct them with braces. But no way! you know this is my golden years on flute, I don't want braces to ruin my embouchure and my practice. So I asked my dentist what to do and he said he can grind my teeth smaller or thiner and then put on false teeth when I am 18. But I am afraid the false teeth won't be able to endure the pressure of my flute.

You might be able to play with dentures, but there may be some issues. As the other replies have indicated, some pressure is applied to the lower teeth and dentures may have a tendency to dislodge from the gums under pressure. Also, the dentures are mounted to a plastic? frame that could interfere with the precise placement of the flute upon the lower lip.

I would think that implants would be greatly superior to dentures because they are semi-permanently attached, but the cost of implants is significantly greater than dentures.

You should discuss the options with your dentist NOW rather than later. It may be possible to salvage your front teeth with crowns or a bridge which would also be superior to dentures or implants. Crowns can be fitted as long as the root of the tooth is still intact. Due to an accident, I lost part of one of my lower front teeth. It was repaired with a crown and it is indistiguishable from a normal tooth. It works fine for playing the flute too!

Thanks Musicman for your assurance, I am in relief now, yes crowns are what the dentist will do to me after trimming my front teeth when I turn 18.

While I agree these are your golden years you have plenty of time to develope as a player .I had some work done and it took 3 months to redo my embouchure but no grinding and hardly ant crowns Dont go the way og grinding get braces and deal with it you will thank yiou rself later on

thats my 2 cents

Pyrioni - most of my previous message was intended for the original poster. Yes, you can play with crowns, but for a young person such as yourself, I would strongly encourage you to reconsider and get the braces. In the long run, that has a far less impact on your teeth because braces will avoid the grinding. Yes, braces will require a bit of time to adjust your embouchure both when installed and when removed, but that would certainly seem to be the preferable route. When I had the crown installed, I had to adjust a bit. Even though it was only one tooth/crown, it initially felt different while playing. Anytime you have any major work done on your teeth there may be an adjustment period.

I see, thanks

thanks a lot for the replies everyone!
nevertheless, my uncertainty still remains...
will all my time spent exercising nowadays (enjoying every single minute however), be wasted when my teeth won't allow me to play anymore?

Hello

I have false teeth and am still playing the flute, the first time I had them in it was a bit of getting used to but after that first time I never have had any problems playing.

Hello Manja

Thanks for your reply! Do you have false teeth on implants (fixed in your mouth), or dentures (teeth on a 'plate') that you can take in and out?

I have dentures, I know my dentist was surprised that I still can play, she plays herself and had been told that you cannot play with dentures but I am living proof that you can. Like I said, the fist time was strange, I didn`t get any sound but after that no problems, I have had my dentures for some years now. I play in an ensemble by the way.

Thanks a lot!
It really means a lot to me to have that bit of certainty, to know that my flute-playing won't have to stop from one day on the other!

Hello Manja

Some more questions:

- Do you fix your dentures with glue, and does that glue affects your saliva?

- Does the pressure of the flute (head joint) on your bottom lip and teeth, cause any problems?

- Do you play as well now with dentures, as you did before without dentures?

thanks a lot for answering...
Steve

Hello

I did use glue in the beginning when I had to play the flute, my neighbour gave me that tip. But I stopped using it after a few times as I hated the feeling of the stuff, and it was no problem playing without.
As I said before, don`t be afraid in the beginning when you cannot get a sound or a good sound, the second time I played after I got my dentures I could play almost as well as before and within the next few times I played as I used to. Maybe using glue in the beginning helped so it is something you could try. .
The pressure of the flute doesn`t bother me.
In the beginning my dentures hurt and I had to go back to the dentist a few times to have them readjusted so take that into account.
I wish you lots of pleasure playing and I hope I have helped you a bit, if you have more questions, please do ask them.

Manja